Task-Based and Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Children with Dyscalculia

Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) is a unique method in neuroimaging that measures the spontaneous neural activity as the brain is at rest, not actively undergoing any task. It is important in investigating brain patterns that result from brain regions working together throughout an individual’s development. The application of this technique has been limited in the mathematical cognition field, and thus, should be explored further. This preregistration poster focuses on the depth of the literature and studies available in regards to RSFC and math cognition through a scoping review, and then proposes a study in which task-based and resting-state functional connectivity is explored in children with dyscalculia

Important Health-related Judgments of the Year 2018

Medicolega

An Approach to Knowledge Management: The Contribution of Technical and Social Concepts

This paper attempts to identify models of knowledge acquisition and dissemination that are appropriate for the 21st century organizations facing complex and rapidly changing business environments. The specific aims of this paper are to (1) propose a new socio-technical model for Knowledge Management, (2) discuss some mature as well as emerging technologies that are now widely used for Knowledge Management, and (3) present few emerging learning systems and environments, and introduce how shadowy groups called “Communities of Practice” and “Share Groups” are transforming the acquisition, creation, packaging, and application of knowledge

Decomposing Revenue Effects of Tax Evasion, Base Broadening and Tax Rate Reduction

This paper proposes a method for evaluating the impact of tax reform on tax revenues and the distribution of the tax burden. The technique consists of decomposing actual revenue relative to potential revenue into components attributable to (i) changes in the tax rate structure (ii) deductions and (iii) tax evasion. If the standard reform package is successful, revenue loss from deductions should be curtailed by base broadening. Furthermore, revenues lost by lowering tax rates should be more than compensated by the induced decline in tax evasion. We use the method to examine tax reforms in India. Our results indicate that, for the reform episode we examine, reform did have the looked for effect but that these gains could not be sustained over time. The magnitude of the gains from the reform were limited and failed to curtail losses from tax evasion to any significant extent. At a disaggregated level, gains to the exchequer from the tax reform have arisen mainly from low income taxpayers without having much impact on upper income group taxpayers. Furthermore, the reforms had little or no impact on deductions taken by business income earners and professionals. This raises questions about the desirability of base-broadening and rate-cum-slab reduction from the perspective of equity

Value Added Tax Evasion, Auditing and Transactions Matching

This paper extends the standard theoretical model of tax enforcement by allowing for the cross- matching of transactions in addition to the auditing of taxpayers. For the Value Added Tax (VAT) the matching of purchase and sales invoices is an important enforcement technique. The paper examines the impact such enforcement on the revenue effectiveness and efficiency consequences of the VAT. Transactions matching is shown to have very different effects from auditing: Even when auditing alone is unable to induce non-zero taxpayer reports, and regardless of the expected success rate in auditing of the tax administration, sufficiently intensive cross- matching can induce truthful reporting. On the other hand, matching leads to distorted purchase and sales transactions. It can also distort input use and output decisions even if auditing alone has no adverse effects. In the model, conditions under which the VAT leaves input prices undistorted are found and the content of the often made claim, that a VAT is self-enforcing, is explored. The ability of the tax administration to enforce compliance with the VAT is shown to be sensitive to the knowledge that the tax administration has about the production technology

A Comparison of Sales Taxes

We describe the simple analytics of the four main types of sales taxes under revenue neutrality: the retail sales tax, the value added tax, a cascading sales tax and a manufacturers' sales tax. The retail sales tax is shown to be equivalent to a value added tax. In order to produce equal revenues these two taxes must be at a higher rate than a cascading tax. However, output under a retail sales tax exceeds that under a cascading sales tax and deadweight losses are lower. The manufacturers' sales tax offers the worst of all worlds: with revenue neutrality the manufacturers' sales tax has a higher tax rate, lower output and greater deadweight loss than all the other taxes

Intergenerational Transmission of Functional Connectivity Profiles in Isolated Reading and Math Networks: A Scoping Review and Study Proposal

The scoping review surveyed the existing literature on the topic of resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and mathematical cognition. The review revealed that rsFC is indicative of distinct long-term developmental trends in mathematical processing, alluding to individual differences in math abilities. Though there have been multiple studies that investigate individual differences in functional connectivity patterns related to math development and math learning disorders, no study has directly investigated to what degree these neurobiological factors are heritable. To address this topic, the following intergenerational transmission (IT) study is proposed. IT is the transfer of personal values, abilities, behaviours, and traits, from parents to children (Durlauf & Blume, 2016). A recent study conducted by Takagi et al. (2021) investigated the effects of IT via neurobiological substrates. The investigation was primarily concerned with whether identification of a parent-child dyad was possible based on brain similarity, using both structural and functional information. Using a similar method as Takagi et al., we plan to use data from the Parents and Children: Measuring Academic skills using Neuroimaging (PACMAN) project to investigate whether parent-child dyads are identifiable based on brain similarity - specifically using the reading- and math-related networks. Similar to the Takagi et al. (2021) study, we predict that parent-child dyads will be identifiable based on functional connectivity profiles localized in reading- and math-related brain networks